Columns Crown

"Forget the story... play for the gameplay."

This is one game where they really shouldn't have bothered with the story.. and if they wanted to, they could have at least made it decent. It wouldn't have taken much effort to, and it would have been worth at least making the dialogue some good.

Graphics - 7/10

The graphics are ok, but nothing spectacular. They fit the game's agenda, although I have a major problem with the CG's of the people. For starters, Ruby looks like some short but old stripper because her eyes look like she has makeup on. When you look at the rest of her graphics though, she looks young as she should. Then there is the final boss of the VS CPU mode, whose graphic is out of proportion with the other CG's of the other characters. It's the little things about it that get to me. To say in the least... I can make better CG's than the game makers did (I'm not kidding on this, I'll fix the flaws).

Overall however, game graphics are decent.

Music - 8.5/10

While you may find the music sort of dull, the reason may be because you haven't heard ALL the songs. For those who can't get very far on the Survival mode, you will be missing out, as the good music is farther up in the levels, especially the second to last stage of the survival mode where you go to a place that sort of makes you think "Arabian nights".

Yes, the music gets better as you go along. That is why I gave it a better score than most of the reviewers.

Sound effects - 5/10

Repetitive, but it works.

Story - 5/10

Please. The story only serves to explain why you have to obtain 24 magic gems. They could've just made a story more fitting, but they chose to use castles and magic for some reason. Don't bother with the story for this one... just play for...

Gameplay - 9/10

Fun. Stacking sets of three jewels, trying to match the colors horizontally, diagonally, or vertically. As with most puzzle games, it sounds simple but it does tend to get complex when you try to get chains and combos. Survival mode is the best, for you try to show how much skill and luck you have by trying to survive as many levels as possible. VS CPU is only for playing against computers while using magic gems. This gives varied effects from raising the playfield, speeding up gem drops, or wiping your field clean of jewels. Flash Columns is the mode where you have to clear certain gems from the field, but this mode only lasts so long.

Gameplay is good. Puzzle fans will have a good time with this one.

Overall - 8/10

A great puzzle game to take along on your portable. You'll have hours of fun with this one, collecting magic gems and setting new scores.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/14/05